Various surgical procedures are routinely carried out intravascularly or intraluminally. For example, in the treatment of vascular disease, such as arteriosclerosis, it is a common practice to invade the artery and insert an instrument (e.g., a balloon or other type of catheter) to carry out a procedure within the artery. Such procedures usually involve the percutaneous puncture of the artery so that an insertion sheath may be placed in the artery and thereafter instruments (e.g., catheter) may pass through the sheath and to an operative position within the artery. Intravascular and intraluminal procedures unavoidably present the problem of stopping the bleeding at the percutaneous puncture after the procedure has been completed and after the instruments (and any insertion sheaths used therewith) have been removed. Bleeding from puncture sites, particularly in the case of femoral arterial punctures, is typically stopped by utilizing vascular closure devices, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,090,130 and 6,045,569, which are hereby incorporated in their entireties by this reference.
Typical closure devices such as the ones described in the above-mentioned patents place sealing material at the tissue puncture site. Successful deployment of the sealing material includes ejection from within the closure device sheath to a location adjacent to the tissue puncture along an outer surface of the vessel. Failure to contact the sealing material against the outer surface of the vessel may also result in an improper seal.
Intravascular devices typically include an intravascular component (e.g., anchor) used to create a compressive sealing force between the inner wall of the artery and the exterior device. The opposite applied force from the intravascular component helps place the sealing material in alignment with the tissue puncture and obtain a proper seal. The intravascular component may be permanently positioned within the vessel to help maintain tension that holds the sealing material in place to maintain the seal. There are challenges involved in providing an intravascular component that is small enough for delivery through the tissue puncture while still being large enough to provide proper anchoring within the vessel. Other challenges exist related to maintaining a position of the intravascular component in contact with an inner surface of the vessel, and connecting the intravascular component to the sealing material.